Salesforce.com profit beats estimates, shares drop after hours

(Reuters) - Salesforce.com Inc posted a quarterly profit that narrowly beat analysts’ estimates as it invested heavily to fend off competition in the cloud-based software sector.

FILE PHOTO - The Salesforce logo is pictured on a building in San Francisco, California, U.S. October 12, 2016. REUTERS/Lily Jamali/File Photo

Shares of the company fell 1 percent after the bell on Tuesday after closing at $92.95 on the New York Stock Exchange.

The San Francisco-based tech giant’s net income grew to $241 million, or 33 cents per share, from $170 million, or 24 cents per share, a year earlier.

Analysts were expecting net income of $229 million for the quarter.

The company also reported deferred revenue - a key metric for the subscription-based software business - of $4.82 billion for the quarter, up 26 percent on the year, beating expected revenue of $4.69 billion, according to financial and data analytics firm FactSet.